Archive for the 'Christian Tober' Tag Under 'USC' Category

* Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster missed his second consecutive practice for "personal reasons." Coach Steve Sarkisian declined to elaborate. It's unknown whether Smith-Schuster will be back Saturday, when the Trojans resume practice for next Thursday's game vs. Washington.

* Nose tackle Antwaun Woods suffered a pectoral injury. The severity is not known at this time. A trainer placed an ice pack on the front of Woods' left shoulder. He missed the Holiday Bowl last season because of a torn left pec that required surgery.

* Backup receiver and special-teamer Christian Tober will be out for a while after suffering a broken clavicle Tuesday.

* Tight end Taylor McNamara turned an ankle early in practice and did not return.

The not-so-good: USC surrendered five sacks in the first half, some the fault of the offensive line, some the fault of QB Cody Kessler, according to Coach Steve Sarkisian. … The Trojans converted only 3 of 10 third downs.

* Walk-ons George Katrib, Christian Tober and Alex Wood received scholarships. Katrib, a receiver, is a key special-teams player who also was on scholarship last season. Tober, a slot receiver from San Clemente High, has earned a spot in the rotation. And Wood beat out Matt Boermeester for the starting placekicker job.

* Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox will be stationed in the coaches' box this season, Sarkisian said. Wilcox annd receivers coach Tee Martin (a former quarterback) will be the two coaches upstairs.

USC’s Week 1 depth chart is out. You can check out the offense here, the defense here and the special teams here. Below, my position-by-position analysis:

QUARTERBACK

Nothing to see here. Move along.

TAILBACK

As USC coach Steve Sarkisian said Saturday, Tre Madden will start the opener. Ideally, Justin Davis returns sooner than later to complement Madden – but we haven’t been given a timetable for Davis to return from a rib injury. I’m not sure what, if anything, to read into the order of the freshman tailbacks (which is alphabetical): Dominic Davis, Ronald Jones II, Aca’Cedric Ware. Based on the way camp ended, I’d go Davis, Ware, Jones. But it’s a fluid situation, and at this point I expect all three to play.

News, notes and observations from USC’s first training camp practice of 2015, held Saturday night at Howard Jones Field:

* The most interesting revelation of the night was Adoree’ Jackson’s practice schedule. He’ll work on defense for the first 11 practices, on offense for the following six – a departure from spring, when he alternated from one practice to the next. The goal is to make sure Jackson gets the full defensive installation before shifting to offense. The question is whether the approximate split – two-thirds of the first 17 practices on defense, one-third on offense – will be indicative of Jackson’s playing time once the season starts.

* It didn’t seem like any of the quarterbacks wanted to throw in Jackson’s direction. I asked him afterward how many balls came his way during team drills. He said two. Was either completed? “No sir,” Jackson said.

* Linebacker Jabari Ruffin and tackle Chad Wheeler practiced with braces on their left and right knees, respectively. Both are recovering from 2014 surgeries. Neither showed any ill effects. Sarkisian praised Ruffin for his activity level. Wheeler mainly worked with the second unit. He got hurt about two months later than Ruffin and is being limited to start camp.

* USC did a lot of mixing and matching with its offensive line. The first unit to take the field in team drills featured, from left to right, Toa Lobendahn, Chris Brown, Max Tuerk, Viane Talamaivao and Zach Banner. It’s unclear why Brown got the nod ahead of Damien Mama, who played plenty with other line combinations. One featured Wheeler, Mama, Tuerk, Talamaivao and freshman Chuma Edoga. Another consisted of Lobendahn, Brown, Khaliel Rodgers, Nico Falah and Banner.

* Linebacker Anthony Sarao, who missed all of spring practice because of foot surgery, worked with the first team. His cleats were heavily taped, but that was the only sign that anything was recently wrong with him.

* Defensive end Greg Townsend Jr., who also missed spring because of a foot injury, participated in team drills. He played left end with the second unit.

* Tackle Chad Wheeler and linebacker Jabari Ruffin, recovering from knee injuries that kept them out of spring practice, warmed up with the squad but didn’t do any team drills. As was the case late last season, Toa Lobendahn took most of the first-team reps at Wheeler’s left-tackle spot.

* Uchenna Nwosu, who wasn't in school in spring, played with the second unit at outside linebacker. Nwosu is expected to return to the team in fall.

Quick hitters and statistical leaders from USC's 2015 spring game played Saturday at the Coliseum:

* Defensive end Claude Pelon did not participate. Coach Steve Sarkisian said Pelon dropped a class, making him ineligible for the spring game. Pelon is expected to be eligible for next season.

* Safety John Plattenburg was held out for precautionary reasons after his sprained ankle did not respond as hoped. Plattenburg had a boot on his right foot.

* The offense won the spring game, 37-23. Christian Tober had a pair of touchdowns for the offense, and JuJu Smith had one. Matt Boermeester and Alex Wood each made a pair of field goals. The defense had two takeaways: a fumble recovery by Joel Foy and an interception by Jalen Jones.

* The scrimmage consisted of 82 plays. Cody Kessler and Max Browne alternated at quarterback in the first half. Browne alternated with Jalen Greene and Ricky Town in the second.

Some quick-hit notes from the first of USC's three bye-week practices...

-- The Trojans practiced for two hours in intense mid-morning heat, intensified by the fact that they practiced at the track stadium in order to give the practice-field grass some recovery time. The plastic artificial turf led to higher on-field temperatures.

-- No doubt because of the heat, there were plenty of substitutions and rotations during practice, with a lot of work for the second- and third-team units. There was still plenty of competition, though, as Coach Steve Sarkisian allowed the first-team offense to face the first-team defense in 11-on-11 drills.

-- Defensive lineman Leonard Williams, receiver Juju Smith, tight end Randall Telfer and tailback Tre Madden all sat out team drills. Sarkisian said the players were getting rehab work and had not suffered any major injuries or setbacks.

-- There didn't appear to be any significant changes in personnel Tuesday, although Adoree' Jackson split time, fairly evenly, with Chris Hawkins at one cornerback spot, opposite Kevon Seymour.